Some platinum based drugs are known to have useful antitumor activity. However, such drugs are also known to have various problems. For example, cis-diamminedicloroplatinum(II), also referred to as cisplatin or CDDP, is one such drug with a significant level of activity, but which also exhibits significant nephrotoxicity and other harmful side effects. Other platinum drugs have been synthesized which have less potential to cause renal injury, but many of these drugs are much less soluble in water than is desirable.
A long standing need exists for platinum drugs which have improved aqueous solubility and antitumor activity, a broad spectrum of activity against various neoplastic disease states, reduced toxicity, and a lack of cross resistance to other antitumor drugs such as cisplatin.